Zenith
by ProdigyMidnight
Summary: There stood one person that defied the very notion of what they thought a human should be. With the energies of the body and spirit flowing within him, and the power of the mind surging in him. He'll show them what a human could do.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not in anyway and form own anything that I have written in this fanfiction. The characters (except for OCs) belong to their respective owners. I do not in anyway profit from this story and is only written out of pure enjoyment.**

**Enjoy Reading!**

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

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><p>It was an unusually dark night. The clouds had engulfed most of the night sky, from that location that is, drowning the light illuminating from the moon and stars with only a few streams peeking through the worldly curtains. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocky cliff traveled carelessly with the wind, the hooting and chirping of the owls from the forest near the cliff resonated with the waves. It was a beautiful symphony of sounds that you can only truly experience in nature. A single figure could be seen standing at the edge of the cliff. Said figure raised a hand towards the direction of the few streams of light. A spiral symbol glowed on the back of the figure's hand and disappeared just as quickly. Up in the sky, the clouds slowly drifted apart making the huge white glowing orb visible to the figure. The figure's golden hair seemed to glow under the moon's light as he stared contently at the moon.<p>

A gentle smile slowly adorned the person's face.

"Naruto-sama," A sigh escaped from the now named Naruto as he turned towards the source of the voice. Forest-green eyes flinched under the scrutinizing gaze of her master's piercing electric blue eyes.

"How many times am I suppose to tell you not to call me 'sama' Seras-chan." he said exasperatedly. He was honestly thinking that the girl was doing it out of spite of him even though he knew that it was unlikely the case.

"Only once Naruto-sama." The girl answered with a slight bow of her head. Naruto could only shake his head at the currently ponytail-haired girl's stubbornness.

"So," Naruto started, an amused smile creeping up his face as he saw the small blush grace the brown-eyed girl's face. Seraphim had completely forgotten why she was there in the first place. "What seems to be the problem, Seras-chan?"

Seras cleared her throat quickly and composed herself. "I've finished preparing camp," Naruto nodded slightly as the black-haired girl continued. "I have also taken the liberty in scouting the area of our camp in case of any threats or trespassers."

The blonde nodded his head sagely as he processed what his, for lack of better words even though he loathed it so much, _servant _said. "Were there any threats then?" His eyebrows slightly raised as he saw Seras raise her head hesitantly before shaking it instead. He had a pretty good guess on what Seras was going to say.

"It's just the female Pendragon, Naruto-sama." Seras answered a bit too lowly in Naruto's opinion. He often wondered why Seras seemed to have a grudge on Le Fay. Was it because she had let the the blonde woman steal his first kiss from him right under her nose? Or is it perhaps of the fact that the blonde female Pendragon kept stalking them?

Naruto shook his head. He really doesn't understand how the female mind works.

"I see," Seras looked at her master as she waited for him to continue. She hoped that he gave her permission to eliminate that pathetic kiss stealing blonde shitbag.

Unfortunately for her, Naruto had no intention to do that. "Ignore her for now. Return to camp and rest. We'll need every ounce of energy we have for our next jump."

Seraphim nodded slightly at Naruto's order. She felt slightly disappointed that her master did nothing about the blonde piece of shit but nonetheless she would follow her master.

"What about you, Naruto-sama?" Questioned the green-eyed girl as she looked at her master's eye, concern obvious in her eyes. Even though Naruto tries to hide it from her, she was aware that he hadn't slept for a long while now, the rings under his eyes proves it. She just didn't know the reason of her master's sleeping troubles.

"I'll be fine." The blonde haired male replied as he turned his back against Seraphim and resumed his moon gazing. Seras took that as her cue to leave, knowing that once her master made up his mind there was no changing it.

Seras glanced at Naruto one last time for the night before leaving the cliff. After the black-haired girl left, Naruto's face adopted a wry look. Contrary to what he answered, he wasn't nearly as fine as he said he would be just moments ago. He was tired and stressed out from all the people he had to talk to and research that he had done. And of course he also had to train to keep his skills sharp.

He knew that Seraphim already knows of his sleeping problems and was waiting for him to tell her about it. He had already decided that he was going to tell her after their next jump to Japan. But right after getting some ramen of course. He was growing tired of only eating pasta and pizza in their stay in Rome for the entire month. Don't get him wrong, the food of the Italians are great—but nothing could ever compare to the sensational and delicious taste of the food of the gods that is Ramen!

Slapping himself out of his self induced food stupor —he really should avoid doing that—, Naruto's thoughts drifted towards the source of his sleeping deficiencies.

Dreams. Actually he wasn't sure if it was more akin to a dream or to that of a nightmare. The dreams were to say...disturbing. It was disturbing enough for him to actually make him stay awake three straight nights, excluding tonight. And he was sure that the strange dream before those string of disturbing dreams was what caused it.

The blonde male's head turned to his back as he heard some rustling sounds coming from the trees near the cliff. Sensing the familiar presence of a certain blonde-haired female magician, Naruto turned his gaze back to the moon. It seems that the Ouroboros Dragon is very persistent in him joining her— he hoped that it was a her cause as far as he knew, the Dragon had a lolita as a human appearance— ragtag group in her quest of _removing_ the **True Red Dragon God Emperor**, Great Red from the Dimensional Gap. She would often send her lackies to have him recruited in her group called the Khaos Brigade. Ophis had sent different people to recruit him but Le Fay and that Nekomata turned Devil, Kuroka were the most often sent. He honestly doesn't know why Ophis couldn't just create another dimension for herself if she had that much power. She must be called the **Infinite Dragon God** for a reason, right?

"If you're here on Ophis' orders then you already know the answer." Naruto stated tiredly. How many times was he suppose to reject them for Ophis to understand that he had no intention on joining her group.

The female on the other hand, Le Fay Pendragon, pouted from Naruto's instant rejection. "Mou, you didn't have to be so blunt about it Naruto-sama."

"I'm not being blunt, I just stated that you already know my answer." Naruto deadpanned. Removing his gaze from the moon he turned to the female magician. "Are you sure that leaving the battle-maniac and the rest of your group to feed themselves is a good idea?"

"Of course! This is Vali-sama were talking about Naruto-sama!"

"You say that, but who was the one that ate a whole weeks worth of my instant ramen?!" Naruto of course, was talking about the time that he first visited Ophis to consider her proposal. He stayed with the descendant of Lucifer at the time along with the rest of Vali's team and Seras. He only left with Seras and Le Fay for an hour to talk with Ophis only to return to a pile of empty ramen cups. Needless to say, the battle that day would always be known in the supernatural world as the _'Ramen Altercation Incident'._

"I co-concede to your point." A blush of embarrassment could be seen on her face as she said that. It was one of her leader's less glorious moments.

_Swish! _

Le Fay quickly jumped out of her position as the sword made out of leaves grazed her clothes. It was Seras who looked like she was out for blood.

She pointed her katana towards the female blonde. "Get away from Naruto-sama you filthy witch!" Seraphim stated whose voice was obviously tainted with anger.

"Ah, Seras-chan! Why do you still dislike me? Are you still angry at me for kissing Naruto-sama?" Le Fay said innocently. That only served to make Seras more angry as she slashed her sword at the other girl. Le Fay managed to conjure up a magic barrier as she quickly escaped towards the forest. A small magic circle appeared below her as she stopped on her tracks. Naruto had an amused smile on his face as the girl prepared to teleport, probably back to her team. Even though he was tired of rejecting Ophis' efforts in recruiting him, he still found this two's interaction funny. If he only knew why.

Let it be known that Naruto's denseness knows no bounds, even if you show it right to his face.

"It was nice seeing you while it lasted Naruto-sama~. See you next time!"

Sensing that Le Fay was gone, Naruto sighed once again. His eyes wondered the sky, lingering at the moon for a few seconds. Seras observed her master as he gazed at the sky. She stayed quiet for now, not wanting to disturb her master. She would talk with him what the disgusting witch wanted with him after he talked first.

Then for a brief moment, when Naruto's eyes connected with the moon's figure, she saw it.

Even if it was only for a quick second, she saw her master's eyes changing colors from that of his electric blue to that of a metallic gray before reverting to his normal mesmerizing eyes.

Meanwhile, Naruto himself was unaware of what had just happened with his eyes. The blonde magician had decided that he would sleep for the night. Maybe the disturbing dream would not invade him in slumber for the night.

He would later curse himself for being too optimistic.

"Let's rest for the night, Seras-chan," Naruto said softly as he turned towards his servant. Knowing that she would want to know what Le Fay discussed with him, he stated "I'll tell you tomorrow. After the jump." he finished with finality in his tone. Seraphim could only nod at her master's words.

The wind passed against his skin, his cloak flowing with it this time around as Naruto walked towards the camp with Seras following closely behind.

Unknowingly to the magician and his servant, the jade pendant hidden underneath Naruto's clothes was glowing, responding to the awakening of a power.

A power that was only heard once in this world. A world wherein _Devils, Angels, Gods _and _Dragons _dominated. A power that could change the world.

And it would. _  
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><p><span><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Yo!

This is the third story that I have posted so far and the first crossover I have with High School DxD. This is a short prologue even for my standards but ultimately decided that I needed to cut it there, so sorry for that but it will get longer as the story truly begins.

Really not sure how fast I can update this, most probably very slow like my other two stories since I need to have good grades to appease my parents' anger for my expensive tuition fee.

As for pairings, try to guess. It's harem by the way though nothing too big maybe 2-4 girls. Having more than that will make it too hard for me to write and might _(read as most likely) _back me up on to a wall like many talented writers I know in this site. I was too reader dependent on the pairings of my last two stories and saw that while it may have positive response from the readers, it could break my interests in the story and narrow my choices on the plot later on.

And another note is the timeline. It is currently canon, where in canon you will find out next chapter.

Seras here is actually Seraphim from _'Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?'_. I changed her nickname to Seras as to avoid confusion with Serafall later on. Should I have used a character from Naruto or DxD instead? Well I could have, but I couldn't pick a character from either series that fits her role in the story. It's easier than creating a compelling background for an OC from scratch.

Until Next Time,

_ProdigyMidnight_


	2. Chapter I

**DISCLAIMER: (See Prologue)**

**Enjoy Reading!**

**(Unedited; Unbeta'd)**

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><p><strong>Chapter I<strong>

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><p>It was a cold morning, which was strange. Yesterday morning when they arrived from their jump from Rome, it hadn't been this cold. In fact it was the complete opposite. The weather was quite warm, which was normal when you consider the fact that it was still the middle of summer. And as far as Seras knew, it didn't snow in the area near Athens that often. Seraphim decided that she would ask her master if he knew anything about the strange weather.<p>

Seras shimmied out of her sleeping bag and crawled out of her tent as she contemplated whether to wake up her master or not. It was still very early in the morning, four o'clock to be exact, and Naruto usually woke up half an hour later. Seras was sure that her master would wake up much later considering that last night was the first time he had slept for days. Not that Naruto knew about her knowing of the fact, right?

Deciding not to wake-up her blonde master, Seras settled to do her morning routine instead. As much as she wanted to cook breakfast for her master, she knew that she was still horribly unskilled at the art.

She stretched out both of her hands above her into an arching position as to warm-up her body for her morning exercise/training. Naruto helped her plan out a training regime to help her sharpen her skills and, in Seraphim's mind, not be a hindrance to her master. She knew she was powerful in her own right but Naruto was on a whole other level. Just thinking that he wasn't close to his peak was somewhat a terrifying thought

Seras knew that her master's combat prowess was what made him highly sought out by some factions. Ophis' relentless pursuit in recruiting him was a testament to it. It was also one of the reasons why they were on the road constantly as to avoid any unnecessary trouble, or so her master says. She knew it was simply an excuse he uses to travel and learn new styles of magic to incorporate to his own and, in his words, find the greatest ramen in the world. The former was the reason why she trained herself often and hard just so she could stay by his side and not be a burden to him. The latter, she knew, was only a joke.

While jogging along the vicinity near the campsite, Seras saw a person near the cliff her master went to last night. As she approached the site, she was surprised to see that it was the very person in currently in her thoughts that was standing idly by the cliff and seemed to be observing the scenery of the sea in front of him. She had been so absorbed with her own thoughts that she did not sense that her master was not at the camp and did in fact woke up earlier than her.

Seras inched towards her master. "Naruto-sama." She murmured softly.

"Seras," Naruto addressed her kindly. Seras noted the lack of suffix in his response but decided not to voice it out. "You woke up early."

"Hai. I could say the same to you, Naruto-sama."

Naruto heaved out a sigh as he turned around to face Seras. "Let's talk."

The black-haired nodded her head before answering. "Of course, Naruto-sama." Seraphim slowly advanced toward her master and stopped beside him, just a few steps before the edge of the cliff. She could easily hear the calming blue waves ripple across the sea from their position.

An awkward silence permeated them. Even though he asked Seras to talk with him, he actually had no idea what to talk about. He remembered telling her that he would talk to her after their jump today about his short conversation with Le Fay and his sleeping troubles but due to his most recent _dream, _he had been conflicted on whether to keep it a secret from her or not. It was just too troubling to discuss without finding out anything about it on his own. But maybe he could start with that. His mother did always say to him that bottling up your thoughts and emotions isn't a good thing.

Just as Naruto was about to open his mouth, Seras had decided to break the awkward silence between them. "Ano, did you sleep well, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto looked at Seras with a deadpanned expression. Seras had the decency to blush from what she said. "Sorry."

"Bah, don't worry about it." Seras noted Naruto's expression shifting to whenever he was concocting his, in her opinion, insane plans.

Fortunately for Seras, there were no crazy plans presently going through his mind.

"To be honest," The blonde started, turning back to the sea with Seras mimicking him. "I think I was a tad too optimistic." Seras' brows scrunched in confusion. What did her master mean?

"What do you mean, Naruto-sama?" The green-eyed girl asked the male.

The magician sighed as he answered. "I know that you know," He muttered. Seras' eyes widened as she realized what he meant. She mentally slapped herself in the face as she was confused at first with his answer even though it was quite obvious. "I've been having...dreams."

"Dreams, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto nodded his head slightly and turned to the girl behind him. "Yeah," Naruto paused and leaned his head slightly, his eyes roaming the still dark sky as if he was searching for something. "Dreams."

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><p>Yasaka was not having a good day.<p>

Her husband, mate, lover or whatever you would like to call him had suddenly went missing to who knows where. She had woken up that morning alone with their daughter, Kunou, and her mate was nowhere to be found. She had been unable to sense him throughout the entire stretch of Kyoto, their territory, and had since then dispatched a number of their subjects to look for their missing leader. Normally, she didn't need to concern herself of her husband's impromptu disappearances as he does this frequently, suddenly leaving their territory to go to some place that had attracted his attention (or so she thinks). But today was an exception. He had an important meeting to attend to!_  
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_Honestly, that man. S_he shuffled through the important documents concerning the meeting from her mate's desk.

Now in comes her next problem.

Her husband was suppose to meet an emissary from the Shinto faction but he's busy doing Inari knows what. And so, the responsibility of meeting the representative fell unto her as she was technically still the official leader of the Youkai in Kyoto being that she was still the center of the leylines.

**_Knock, knock._**

"Come in."

Yasaka glanced to her right as a small girl ambled inside the room. The girl wore a mostly standard white haori having a big star like pentagram design, one on each sleeve, surrounded by a number of small stars. It was paired with a plain red hakama, a standard combination for a _miko_ outfit. She also had silky golden hair that really matched the rest of her appearance well, having golden eyes and her two most prominent features, a pair of golden fox-like ears and matching golden tails, all nine of them. The girl was Yasaka's daughter, the heiress of the Youkai.

"Kunou," A smile appeared on the older Kyuubi's face. At least her precious daughter was still here, unlike her idiotic father.

"Mother." Kunou walked towards her mother as she wrapped her short arms as far as she could around her mother. Yasaka quickly returned her gesture which prompted the young Kyuubi to flash her a big, bright smile.

"Have you eaten breakfast?"

Kunou nodded her head and mouthed a quick _'uh-huh' _before settling on a small but comfy chair near the desk of her father. Speaking of her father...

"Mother, where's Father?" Kunou looked up to her mother as curiously as she waited for her answer. She was used to her father suddenly disappearing without a word as he had done this quite a few times before and he always made sure to return within the day and with a number of gifts for her and her mother and along with a lot of stuff that her father said was off-limits.

She remembered she had been really upset and sad when her father first did a random disappearance. It took her father a lot of effort to assuage her of her grief back then.

"Your father is in one of his trips again," Kunou heard a slight tone of suspicion from her mother but shrug it off as nothing. Meanwhile, Yasaka was already thinking of multiple ways that he could punish her husband if, Inari forbid, he was actually lying to her and was seeing another woman with his random trips.

"Times like this often make me regret not forcing your father to become the center of the leylines here," Yasaka sighed as she organized all of the remaining files that she did not need for the meeting. It honestly did bother her that her husband was irresponsible enough to forget that he had a meeting with the Shinto faction but she had already come to accept it as a part of his person. After all they had been living together for quite a long time now.

Kunou opted to remain silent and listen to her mother's ranting about his father. She had already heard her mother go off like that before and had already been accustomed it. She liked to believe that the reason her mother would talk like that was because her mother loved her father that deeply and that her threats were simply empty ones, they had no bearing as she knew and believed that her father would never ever leave them like that.

Seeing her daughter remain silent, Yasaka stopped herself from saying more. Looking at the clock above the door she said, "It's almost time for the meeting. It's best that we make haste, Kunou."

Nodding at her mother's words, she replied. "Hai, Mother"

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><p>"Naruto-sama," Said blonde looked at the black-haired beauty that called her attention. "What exactly is our purpose here in Kyoto?"<p>

"The old man had me sent to do an errand for him," Picking up a strand of noodles with his chopsticks and briskly eating it, he continued. "Something to do with the Youkai and the Shinto factions."

"Is it, perhaps, about the pact then?" Seras stared at her master who was busy gulping down the bowl of ramen in front of him. Shaking her head, a small smile appeared on Seraphim's face. _Same old Naruto-sama. _Deciding to follow suit with the blonde, Seras started to finish up her own bowl of the noodle dish.

**_Thump._**

The sound of the plastic bowl hitting down the wooden table resounded through the almost empty ramen stand. "Ahh~, That hit the spot."

Naruto made a side glance towards Seras who was finishing up her food and contemplated on whether or not to order another bowl. On one hand, he only had half an hour till the meeting while on the other, he had only eaten two bowls. A bowl below his normal routine consumption.

"Let's go once you finish up Seras-chan," The blonde spoke lightly. He observed Seras who was gracefully slurping the noodles to her mouth. He really was tempted to order another bowl and seeing Seras eat the magnificent gift from the gods was not helping him one bit. He ultimately decided against it since he had other commitments to attend to.

As soon as Seras laid down her chopsticks on top of her bowl, Naruto stood from his seat and waited while Seras wiped her mouth clean with the service tissue given to them. As Seras threw the tissue to a trash can, Naruto spoke. "Ah, yeah. You asked me something regarding about the meeting right?"

"Hai," Seras replied with a nod. "I asked whether it had something to do with the pact between the Youkai and the Shinto factions."

"Hmm," Naruto cupped his chin in contemplation, his eyes closed as he did so. Seras found the action oddly attractive thinking that it really accentuated his barely noticeable but cute whisker-like marks on his cheeks. "My guess is as good as yours. I'm not entirely so sure of it myself since he only gave me a letter and instruction on what to do,"

As to prove his point, Naruto took out a letter from a pocket within his cloak before returning after seeing the girl bob her head slightly.

"Anyways, we should get going. Times ticking and I'm sure as hell that the one we'll be meeting wouldn't want to wait for too long."

Naruto reached in the pocket of his pants as he searched for some change. Getting a few coins out of his pocket and a hundred-yen bill, the blonde left it beside the empty bowl he had eaten earlier. Seras stood from her seat and went ahead of her master and waited for him outside the small restaurant.

"Thanks for the ramen Kitsune-san," Naruto said to no one in particular. "I'll stop by again later."

In the kitchen, the chef —who was actually a youkai, a two-tailed Kitsune in particular— stood dumbfounded as she tried to figure on how the Kami did the human figured out her disguise. Just as she came out of her stupor and ran off to confront the human and his companion, she found herself speechless once again as she found the duo nowhere in sight within the vicinity of her small restaurant.

The fox youkai simply sighed as she returned inside her restaurant. Hopefully the golden-haired human would make good of his promise to return. Business was rather dull and any distraction would be better than none.

Meanwhile, Naruto was walking with Seras in a relatively empty pathway (which was surprising considering how populated Kyoto was), whistling a tune suspiciously like _Closer _from a popular anime that Seras had recently heard. The green-eyed beauty happily followed her master with content while softly humming to herself the same tune that her blonde master was whistling.

As they were walking, Naruto suddenly halted in his place.

"Seraphim," Hearing the icy voice of her master sent chills down her spine. She knew that cold tone of his quite well and she could sense why he was using it. It seemed that there were some people who had the audacity (and stupidity) to invade the Youkai in their own territory.

Nodding her head at her whiskered master's silent message, Seraphim took off to the skies, her devil-like wings in full view.

Seeing the black-haired servant's form fading, Naruto turned to the few gaping bystanders in the area. The blonde magician flashed a toothy smile towards the witnesses which caused some of the females in the vicinity to go out of their shock and blush at the male's charming smile.

"How d-did that...did that girl jus—"

"Yes, the girl awhile ago just flew using her wings. And yes, the wings in her back are real." Naruto interrupted with a rather bored voice. He had already said that line of his multiple of times before and the end result was all the same. "Now then, may I humbly request that you allow me to remove what I just said and what you just saw from your memories." Flashing another smile, the blonde raised his right hand and waved it to a spiral-like pattern. A mist like smoke appeared on his palms before it suddenly soared through the air and engulf the bystanders in the area who were panicking as the smoke swirled around their heads like a whirlpool.

A few seconds later, the witnesses were once again minding their own businesses as if nothing had happened. A smirk appeared on Naruto's face. "Ahh~ Magic, how I love thee."

Turning his gaze back to the meeting place, Naruto once again gained a serious look on his face. His eyes narrowed as he began to channel some of his own magic energy towards his limbs. The blonde bent his legs slightly and quickly launched himself upwards towards the top of one of the near buildings. Naruto let a barely audible chuckle escape him as he saw the flabbergasted expression of one of the man who saw him jump. With a quick spiraling motion of his hands, the man had all but forgotten his jump.

Rearing for another leap, the blonde channeled magical energy towards his legs, easily triple from what he previously channeled. Naruto sprung towards the area near the entrance to the _Inner Capital _of the Youkais, gliding through the city into the direction of Kinkaku-ji.

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><p>When Seraphim had arrived at the site of the Nijou Castle, she expected to see a fierce battle between the two sides with fireballs, lightning strikes and ice spikes flying around; the metallic sounds of swords, maces and spears clashing; the sound of fists and feet colliding. What she didn't expect to see was the Youkai side nearly defeated and the leader of the Youkai, a Kyuubi, to be backed down to a metaphorical corner.<p>

Seras contemplated on what her plan of action should be. If she were to attack now, there was no doubt in her mind that she would be eventually overwhelmed with them being capable of cornering the leader of the Youkai, but she would be able to buy herself and the Kyuubi some time before her master arrives. On the other hand if she were to wait, she would be left relatively unharmed and at full power by the time Naruto arrives but something might have happened to the Kyuubi leader by then.

Seraphim's thoughts were interrupted when she saw a car sized ball of searing fire hurdling towards her direction. Seraphim quickly flew downwards, barely dodging the blast of fire while cursing her luck.

"Tsk," Seras said to herself, a frown appearing on her face. She hadn't been quick enough and had a small portion of her clothes burnt as a result. Looking down at the ground, she could see a number of people surrounding the Youkai leader. She could recognize a few of them, having helped her master gather information about them when the Khaos Brigade had first approached Naruto, all of them were _Longinus_ wielders.

The first one was a short, petite looking young boy. His caramel colored hair swayed to downwards to the right side of his face, just a few centimeters above his brown eyes. Seras couldn't make out what the boy was thinking as his was devoid of any expression. If she remembered right the boy's name was Leonardo, the wielder of the top-tiered Longinus, the_ Annihilation Maker_.

Beside the short male was a bespectacled young male on which she identified as Georg. Based on what she recollected, the man was a reasonably talented magician who knew of many forms of magic but was physically weak when compared to herself. He was a few notches below her master in terms of magical talent so she guessed that she could take him on unless the man starts using his Longinus-class _Sacred Gear_, _Dimension Lost. _That's a whole different fight altogether.

The last man she recognized stood a few feet in front of the Kyuubi leader was someone her master was all too familiar with. The man wore a black collared top paired with a plain black pants, similar to that of the wielder of Dimension Lost. Along with the black_ gakuran _was a red Chinese attire with trimmings of gold and black along it's edges worn during the times of Ancient China wrapped around his waist similar to that of a belt. The man held a beautiful spear behind his mop of black hair. The spear's deep ocean colored shaft shined under the tantalizing rays of the sun. The golden sharp yet elegant tip of the spear shone just as brightly as it's shaft, matching the golden rays that emitted from the yellow star above. The man was without a doubt the wielder of the _True Longinus,_ Cao Cao.

"Hi there Devil-chan!"

Seraphim was caught surprise when she saw the blonde-haired girl beside Cao Cao waving at her with a cheerful expression etched on her face.

"How rude of you, Jeanne. You shouldn't call someone something they are not so carelessly," Cao Cao paused while he looked at the sheepish expression that settled on the face of the woman named Jeanne. "Despite the devil-like wings on her back, Seraphim-san is far from a devil." The holy spear wielder smirked at the look that appeared at Seraphim's face. "No, far from it. She is, in fact, a Vampire. A Daywalker to be precise."

A frown appeared on his face.

"With you being here, it isn't too far-fetched of me to say that your master is somewhere near as well."

Seras gained a stern look on her face at the mention of her master.

"What of it?" She voiced out coldly.

The rest of the people with Cao Cao listened attentively to the exchange between the Vampire Servant and the Longinus Wielder. Some were whispering to each other, curious on why their leader had information about the lady and who she was the servant of. Some were absolutely brimming with lust , happily leering at black-haired bombshell and her bountiful, in Heracles' words, jugs.

The ultimate Longinus wielder ignored the words of the girl as a thoughtful expression graced his face.

"I did not know that Namikaze was affiliated with the Shinto," Seraphim held herself from smirking. It was good to know that he wasn't as all-knowing as she first thought he was with all the information he had on her. "Nonetheless, the plan shall push on. While I'd rather not face Namikaze unprepared, fighting the true leader of the Youkai is a fate I'd never wish even upon others."

Seraphim's eyes widened in surprise. The Kyuubi down there wasn't the leader of the Youkai?

"Heracles, Jeanne, deal with her. Do not take her lightly, she is Namikaze's companion for a reason."

"Alright."

"Yes, yes."

"Let's see how you fare against the inheritors of the will and spirit of the heroes Heracles and Jeanne d'Arc, Seraphim-san."

Seraphim summoned her katana, bright verdant leaves dancing around it as it materialized on her right hand, readying herself for battle. Her eyes morphed from her normal forest ones to a deep bloody pool, showing her heritage as a vampire.

The vampire quickly flew downwards, towards the duo, sending a blast of red energy from her blade towards the blonde female as she did. Heracles, quick on his feet, took the blast in Jeanne's stead full on. Seraphim narrowed her eyes when she saw that the bulky man had seemingly shrugged off her attack as he stood there confidently, unswerving and mostly unscathed.

With the momentum of her dive, Seras made a sideward slash towards the huge frame of the hero descendant of Heracles. If magic had negligible effect on the man then she would strike him down with brute force. She was still, after all, a vampire.

_'Fast!' _Heracles was surprised by the speed she closed down the distance between them. She was as fast if not faster than Jeanne!

A flash of silver panned through Seraphim's vision before her strike was abruptly stopped. The girl, the descendant of Jeanne d'Arc if she were to believe Cao Cao, stood before her, a silver sword clasped on her hand. She could see the sword glinting underneath the blanket of light radiating from the sun, denying Seraphim of the chance to draw first blood and possibly reduce their numbers. Seras could feel the sword pulsating strength and light under it's wielder's hands, making her feel slightly uneasy of it's presence. A _holy _sword if she were to guess.

"Onee-san is really excited to meet you Seraphim-chan! This is the first time I'm fighting a vampire such as yourself!"

Seraphim lunged at the blonde, sword at hand, swinging down her sword with a powerful swish towards the holy sword wielder. Jeanne swiftly brought up her toting hand, bringing up the holy bladed weapon to block the incoming sword of leaves. The two swords clashed, both trying to overpower the other and gain an upper hand against its' opponent.

Both swordswoman backed off against their opponents as they try to regain their bearings from the clanging of their blades. Seraphim took the initiative and was first to lunge once again to her opponent. Jeanne thrusted herself forward as she herself lunged towards Seraphim, her holy blade shining brighter than before.

The sword of leaves and the blade imbued with light clashed once again but this time both their wielders did not back off. A deadly dance between the two sword wielders has begun.

Heracles could only watch at the sheer speed of his opponent and Jeanne. The way they attacked each other with malevolent intent, hacking each other with their glorified steel —in Seraphim's case, leafy— sticks of death at breathtaking, inordinate quickness was awe inspiring, jaw dropping even. Of course, that would have been his reaction if he had been a lesser person but alas, he was not. No, he was the descendant of the Greek hero, Heracles, a man turned god. He was even personally recruited by the current wielder of the True Longinus, the descendant of a famous Chinese warlord, Cao Cao. Heracles was no pushover.

And so, the prospect of fighting a person such as the vampire woman who was currently pushing back his teammate who was by no means a pushover herself made him quite excited. He wasn't sure what to make of the words his leader had said earlier. It had seemed that Cao Cao was actually a bit worried about the vampire's companion if sending both _himself _and Jeanne to fight the supposed female bloodsucker was anything to go by. Whether or not his leader's worries were unfounded was yet to be seen. For now though, he'll let Jeanne fight it out with the vampire to gauge if she's worth the effort of having the both of them fight her.

Jeanne sent her blade upward to block the incoming strike from the female vampire. Staggering backwards from the force of the vampire's attack which sent her sword flying, Jeanne was forced to conjure another holy sword, "You're actually pretty strong Seraphim-chan!"

"Tsk," Seraphim's red eyes glowed brighter as she continued her assault. "It just had to be a Sacred Gear user."

Seraphim glanced slightly at the giant of man that was suppose to be one of her opponents as she traded blows with the holy sword user. She assumed that he was a Sacred Gear user as well if she were to go with the trend that she observed so far.

Jeanne felt insulted. Her opponent wasn't fighting her with their full attention. She could see the vampire glancing at her supposed partner every now and then when their blades clash. Guessed she had to use _that._

"Oh Seraphim-chan~," Jeanne's eyes fluttered, "You should give Onee-san your best, okay?"

"This is getting annoying," Seraphim whispered to herself. She couldn't afford to stall more time on this two, never mind the fact that the partner of this Jeanne person hadn't even fought yet aside from brushing off her first attack.

_Focus. Focus. Focus._

Seraphim centered her attention back towards the blonde swordswoman. Jeanne had suddenly stopped attacking her, even backing away from her as far as possible. Seras readied her blade as she charged towards the the blonde swordswoman who was whispering something to herself that Seraphim couldn't hear. Whatever she was doing, Seraphim would not let her finish. She swung down her sword to strike down the supposed descendant of Jeanne d'Arc and move on to the giant brute.

But then, the ground shook.

Seras tumbled on place, forcing herself to stabbing half of her blade beneath the dirt to regain her balance. Her eyes went up from the ground only to be greeted by something...serpentine.

"Say hi to my Balance Breaker Seraphim-chan! Stake Victim Dragon is a subspecies of Blade Blacksmith's Balance Breaker."

Seraphim chose to remain silent as she glared at Jeanne and the glimmering...dragon made out of thousands if not hundreds of holy swords. She was beginning to doubt her chances of surviving. One holy sword with a competent wielder she could handle, two? No problem. But that many of those accursed holy swords shaped into what looks like a semi-sentient dragon with her only possible back-up being held up by the wielder of the True Longinus? She didn't like her chances.

_How troublesome._

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Ok! The 3rd season of the High School DxD anime just came out which helped in finding some inspiration to write this. The first word spoken in the first episode was glorious!

Now, the ideal thing to say here is that I'm sorry for the long update and that it won't happen again but you know what, I'm not. I'm not going to say something that I know I can't keep. With all the shit that's been happening I wouldn't want what I say to add up to your and mine's list.

About the length of the chapter, I know that I promised that this would be a whole lot longer but it was almost Friday here, the day of my flight and the date that I promised to deliver my next chapter so I was forced to cut the rest of the chapter that I've already typed out because I know I won't be able to finish on time with all the preparations that I had to do. And so, the result was this relatively short chapter. Anyways, next time I'll really deliver a longer chapter. That's something I know I can definitely do.

Something to take note of during the chapter is that the attempted kidnapping here is not during Volume 9 and is actually earlier on the series.

Also, Seraphim was powered up here purposefully. Just saying to clear up any questions that may come regarding that.

My writing style here in this chapter might be inconsistent because of the huge gaps in-between when I wrote them and as much might have been influenced by my English and Literature profs during the time. Anyways, I might get a beta reader for this story.

* * *

><p><em>P.S. 'Hai' is japanese for 'Yes' for those who are unaware of it. It's one of the few japanese words I'm gonna use occasionally (depending on the character) along with some techniques. I'll be taking note of those japanese words every now and then so look out for it.<em>


	3. Chapter II

**DISCLAIMER: (See Prologue)**

**Enjoy Reading!**

**(Unedited; Unbeta'd)**

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><p><strong>Chapter II<strong>

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><p>The bright blue waters of the river which sat by the temple of the Golden Pavilion reflected a few beams of light had Naruto shielding his eyes lest he risk of going temporarily blind, even if it was only for a few seconds.<p>

Looking away from the reflecting lights from the river, he contemplated on what his plan of action should be. He knew that he had to tread carefully. There was certain danger in the air that seemed eerily familiar to him though he just couldn't pinpoint it.

He had smelt it from a mile away, before he had even arrived at the temple. He was assaulted by an earthy smell, similar to the smell of wrought copper or that odor he smells whenever he was visiting blacksmiths to repair some of his weapons when he was nearing the temple premises. It was an odd metallic stench that he was very familiar with, considering his choice of companion.

He trudged towards the entrance of the Inner Capital. If his memory served him correctly, he was only a minutes walk away now.

As he went nearer, the coppery smell only got stronger, not that he minded the smell since he was used to it but it was tad bit too pungent, more so than usual. He'd hazard that there was probably a lot of _it. _Definitely fresh as well.

He raised a single hand readily, a spiral symbol appearing on the back of his hand. He was readying a spell in preparation for the worst. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

He looked down at the floor and saw traces of dark, crimson liquid. As he moved closer towards the entrance, the traces of the red liquid started to grow in volume, coming in puddles and then to ponds. The orange glow of the spiral symbol on his hand grew brighter.

Then he stopped dead on his tracks.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he zoomed in towards the pile of bloody bodies—corpses that bathed in rivers of blood, no doubt spewing from their cold, lifeless bodies. They were humans, at least he thought they were. He really couldn't distinguish their faces due to the amount of blood that splat on their faces but judging from their lack of _unique _appendages he guessed it must be true.

He scanned the pavilion for any hostile presences but couldn't find any peculiarities, he didn't let up his guard though. Instead, another spiral symbol appeared on his other hand.

The eerie scene in front of him bothered him. There weren't any signs of battle, aside from of the obvious abundance of blood, no, in fact there wasn't even any signs of struggle. It looked like they were all just standing there in their places, probably assigned for some menial task, when they suddenly just dropped dead. Then there was the fact that he did not feel any presence when he tried searching for it. Whoever or whatever did this was dangerous, probably amongst the most dangerous ones he fought as of yet.

He just knew it.

"I know what you're thinking," Naruto suddenly tensed on his place. His entire body suddenly coming to a complete halt as his mind raced about what measures he should take, actions he should do. He knew, just by the fact that he had managed to past his detection, that the person was considerably skilled.

"You're probably thinking along the lines of 'How did he past me?' or 'What the hell is he?' aren't you?"

Naruto shook his head, "You would have been right if you had ask me a few seconds later," He turned around to his back, only to quickly dodge a large scorching ball of flame hurdling towards him with a quick boost from a wind spell.

"That was too close for comfort," He whispered to himself. "You should really be careful with where you toss around those fireballs of yours, 'ya know. Never know who you might accidentally incinerate."

Naruto stepped back as his attacker suddenly appeared in front of him. His attacker was fast, although he wasn't sure who was the faster between the two of them. He wasn't too keen on finding out anytime soon though, Seraphim was still waiting for him on the other front.

A spiral symbol quickly appeared on his hand and thrusted it forward towards his attacker. His attacker, which he identified as a male with orange (orange!) hair, felt the air in front of him suddenly compressing before he was forced flying backward by a powerful torrent of wind. The man, with a remarkable feat of acrobatics, landed on the ground, seemingly unharmed.

"Timeout! Timeout!" Naruto quickly called out, his hands making a 'T' sign as he did.

His attacker paused on his tracks and observed him. He shivered slightly as he felt his attacker's red slitted eyes surveying him. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the orange haired guys eyes freeze, as though he had seen a ghost for a split second before reverting back to a more calm expression.

"You have thirty seconds to explain why you are here on _my _territory or else," The attacker said before moving his hands towards his neck, motioning it as if he had a knife and slicing it. Naruto gulped.

Naruto calmed his mind and remembered the lessons his father taught him when dealing with people who you shouldn't to fight with fists or magic. Even at his current strength, he wasn't sure if he could take the person in front of him. Another important lesson his father imparted to him.

_Always overestimate your opponent when your dealing with an unknown._

He observed the man in front of him. He seemed familiar, he wasn't sure if he had read about him on a book before or something but he felt really familiar, like he should know who the person was.

_Let's see: Creepy, dark red eyes. Slightly long orange hair. Orange fox-like ears. Nine orange tails swishing behind him_...Then it clicked to him. If he was the person Naruto thinks he is then he would be in for a show. A rather bloody one that is.

"I came here to investigate the huge gathering of magical energy here," His attacker gave him a blank look. "And another location. The energies were vastly different from Youkai energy, youki as you may have called it." Naruto paused as he directed his eyes towards the Youkai in front of him. "Coincidentally, the other location I was talking about was the location I was supposed to meet someone, the leader of the local Youkai faction." Naruto eyed him carefully as he talked, waiting for any reaction that might confirm his assumptions.

"Could you imagine my surprise when I arrived that the huge gathering of magic here suddenly vanished? I don't suppose you know who had done this?"

A small hoarse laugh echoed in the rather messy clearing which soon turned into fits of hysterics. Naruto's eyes twitched ever so slightly. The man wasn't taking him seriously!

The man suddenly stopped his laughter, suddenly shifting into a more serious look. "If I were to say that I was the one responsible," The man paused as he looked at Naruto's eyes directly, "What would you do?"

Naruto stayed still on his place, thinking of his reply. His eyes darted away from the intense gaze of the person in front of him was giving him. He had already gotten the information he needed from the person's reply, all he needed to do now was to somehow get out of the situation without the wasteful and, in spite of himself, if his assumptions were truly correct, one-sided fighting.

"I would thank you, probably, just for the fact that you saved me the time and the energy that I would have used in dealing with them." He managed to say confidently.

"Heh," The man laughed, an amused look adorning his face as he did. "Close enough, I suppose." The man turned his back against Naruto who raised an eyebrow at the action. Did that mean he 'passed' the man's 'test'?

"What's your name kid?" His eyes twitched at the obvious jab. He was twenty-three years old dammit!

"Naruto," He uttered in a low voice. "Namikaze Naruto."

The man turned back to him, eyeing his face as if he was studying a newly found treasure or an ancient specimen. It unnerved him a bit but otherwise kept his cool.

"Well then Fishcake," Naruto's eyes twitched at that. He had been doing that a lot lately. "You will help me get my wife and daughter back."

"It's Maelstrom," He grumbled.

"Whatever you say Fishcake,"

Naruto huffed at that, grumbling about smug bastards and their cocky attitudes. Not that he could anything, he was pretty cocky himself at times.

He paused on his steps and took a look at the orange-haired man in front of him. There was still a few lingering questions that was floating in his mind regarding the Fox Youkai. He decided that now was a great opportunity to settle one of the questions and asked, "Before we go, what should I call you?"

The man paused at the question before glancing at him with only one side of the Youkai's face visible to him. A small, barely noticeable smirk appeared at the man's face. "Call me Kurama."

* * *

><p>"Can I ask you something Fishcake,"<p>

Naruto turned his head at the nine-tailed Youkai, still a bit irked at how the man calls him, chose to simply raise a single eyebrow in response.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," The Kitsune told himself. "I'm going to be blunt, do you use chakra or am I wrong in my presumption?"

His eyes made a sharp yet tiny movement towards the nine-tailed Youkai as the question was made. No one knew, apart from his closest connections, about his ability to use chakra or rather his ability to manipulate chakra the way he did.

"I don't think certain people I know would be happy if I just gave away information like that,"

The fox-man glanced at him with an appraising look. "Can't say that I'm blame you, everybody's entitled of their own secrets after all."

Naruto made a mental note on the tone that the Kyuubi used in his reply. That made him certain that the Youkai would ask him more questions later, and he wasn't even in the know of the contents of the letter that he was tasked to give probably to the orange-haired man gliding in front of him. For all he knew, it might contain data about his abilities.

"We're getting closer. Get ready, there's a lot of them." He nodded at Kurama's warning. He had felt it as well, before he and Seraphim separated. He had a bad feeling that he knew who those were and his instincts were screaming at him that he would be in for a fight.

"Hey," Naruto called out. "I think I have an idea on who we're gonna face,"

Kurama chose to stay quiet at his statement and allowed him continue. "Do you have any knowledge about the Khaos Brigade?"

"Yeah, they're dead men walking. That's all I know."

_I was actually starting to wonder why he hadn't displayed much emotions, _The blonde thought to himself before heaving a soft sigh.

"Guess I'll have to explain," He mumbled to himself. "The Khaos Brigade is made up of a bunch of different and distinct groups that follow a single entity, you probably know her as the Infinite Dragon." Naruto noticed Kurama giving him a sharp look at the mention of the Ouroboros Dragon. "While they do follow the Infinite Dragon, they have their own goals separate from what Ophis wants or so she says."

Kurama had a pensive look on his face with the information he had given him. "And how do you know that?"

A small frown etched Naruto's face at the question as he and Kurama hopped off another roof. "They've been trying to recruit me the past year. First time they approached me I actually spoke with Ophis herself."

"Hmm, I see."

They fell to a brief silence as they saw the distant figure of the Nijou Castle. They could hear the echoes of the battling, the sounds of sword and magic reverberating through the air.

Naruto glanced towards Kurama's form. He could feel his presence expanding, and it would have been oppressing —suffocating even— if he had not chosen to coat himself with his own energy.

_Just as I thought. He really is restraining himself from going on a_ _rampage. _The blonde thought to himself. He couldn't blame the man for his anger, if his sister or mother or even Seraphim had been the one who was abducted, he would be livid himself.

Taking his attention away from the Youkai, he decided to focus at the problem at hand. He already knew from their conversation beforehand that Kurama's wife and daughter had been kidnapped, and if his guess was correct, they were taken by the Khaos Brigade. He wasn't sure which faction it was but he guessed they were quite powerful if they had been able to stall Seraphim and a Youkai whose power could rival those what the devils called an Ultimate-class.

He snapped himself out of his thoughts when he saw Kurama suddenly rushing towards the still far battlefield. The Kitsune was extremely fast even in the air, he was almost like a blur but he could keep up with it with a little application of chakra. He felt the sudden rush of wind blowing against his body as he raced towards what looked like a...dragon?

"What the hell is that doing in Kyoto?" He whispered to himself as he stopped abruptly midair, his mind trying to figure as to why a dragon of all things was there and why it was circling around Seraphim of all people.

He made a small gesture with his glowing hands as the winds suddenly started swirling violently around him. He felt his body lighten up, as if he was floating on water, and flew towards Kurama's direction. He also idly noted Kurama's body glowing with an angry red slightly ahead of him, floating in midair as well.

"Whatever it is, I have a feeling that it isn't friendly." As he said that, both of his hands glowed with a bright orange and thrusted himself forward with a strong gust of wind. His hands glowed again with another pair of spirals and breathed in a miniscule amount of air and formed a small, circular shape with a single hand around his mouth.

His midsection expanded slightly before it deflated a second later. A small cinder came out of his mouth which then quickly exploded to a huge burning ball of dark orange flames hurdling downwards to the dragon. At least that was his intent. "Get out of the way Kurama!"

Kurama forced himself to drop a few meters downwards hearing the blonde's shout. He was surprised when he saw a huge ball of fire race past him towards the dragon-like figure below them and took a quick glimpse at Naruto who was holding out his palms at the general direction of the fireball.

"Impressive. To be able to collaborate multiple elements by himself takes a great deal of talent especially with the power he chooses to use," Kurama said to no one in particular. "But then again, it's Naruto that I'm talking about here."

Naruto, meanwhile, was staring intently from afar at the dragon battling Seraphim. The hot ball of flames he had sent hurtling towards the dragon had managed to hurt it, hopefully enough for Seraphim to push it back, if slightly. He could feel that Seraphim was thanking him for that.

He noted Kurama gazing at the other side of the battlefield with imposing rage, the fox Youkai's aura becoming very visible. His eyes darted towards the other side, to see what was making Kurama mad.

What he saw made his blood boil.

"To think that you would sink that low, Cao Cao." He murmured quietly to himself, with noticeable hints of anger. "I knew that he didn't like supernatural beings all that much but to think that he would hostage a child,"

Kurama, he noticed, was barely able to restrain himself. He surmised that the only thing holding the Youkai back from blowing up the lot of them was the man's wife, who from what he could see was still fighting —and struggling— to get the young Kitsune back and of course the young Kitsune herself. He had an inkling that Cao Cao's Sacred Gear has a huge role at somehow making the other Kyuubi go on the defense.

"Kurama, I'll handle him. You just go save your daughter and wife and, if you can, please help Seras-chan as well." It wasn't the best plan, he knew that, but it was the _safest_, for both Kurama's family and the city of Kyoto itself if he were to believe the stories he heard about the man.

"I'll go first, then you swoop in after I gather their attention." Kurama nodded, though reluctantly, and chose to calm himself. Naruto smiled slightly at that before nodding as well. The wind around him that kept him afloat gather towards his back before he blasted himself towards his _old _'friend'.

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><p>Seraphim had never been more grateful towards her master's often dramatic timing than she was now. Of course, she would have preferred it, if he could have been here much earlier. Still, she could do nothing about it, even if she wanted to.<p>

As the torrent of flames tried to engulf the Sacred Gear of her opponent, Seraphim concentrated an immense amount of her magical energy towards her blade. She felt her energy seeping towards her verdant blade, with a slight glowing of bloody red surrounding it. She focused herself, clearing her mind of any cluttering thoughts, and stared at her two—three if you counted the Dragon-shaped Sacred Gear— opponents.

The woman, Jeanne, was obviously startled by the attack that was trying to consume the Balance Breaker form of her Sacred Gear. Heracles himself was the same, oblivious to the two new heavy presence that was enveloping the field. Seraphim could recognize one of them as it was obviously Naruto whom just previously sent the fireball towards the dragon-of-swords. The other one she wasn't sure but it felt more pronounced, more angry. She hoped that it was friendly.

As her opponents were still distracted, Seraphim took that as an opportunity to try and tip the scales of battle towards her favor. She raised her hands, glowing sword clasped, at the level of her head's top and concentrated the power that was seeped into her blade. Her blood red eyes trailed towards the pseudo-dragon's hollow socket eyes, bearing down her presence on it —something she learned from her master' s previous encounters—, calculating her next move. She visualized the three spots she would strike and held her stance more firmly. The glow of her sword pulsed with power then, with an unbidden cry, she moved.

_Hiken: Tsubamegaeshi. _

She dived forward with inhuman speeds and stroke her blade three times with the strength and magical power worthy of a vampire. One to the head, another to the body, and the last to the legs. A second later, Seraphim stood imposingly in front of the Stake Victim Dragon whose body of lethal weapons of holy power and steel crumbled and laid broken, sliced cleanly to three pieces, unmoving and powerless.

The wielder of Blade Blacksmith looked on in shock, with an ugly expression etched on her face. She had not predicted this to happen, it didn't even pass her mind that she would be beaten by the girl in front of her, especially with the advantages that she had over the vampire. She dropped the smile on her face, replacing it with one that of anger and rage; Seraphim could even see a hint of self-disgust on her face which made the vampire smirk slightly.

"You underestimated me, descendant of the Maiden of Orleans. Despite me being a vampire who are inherently weak against light, I trained myself everyday till night to be able combat people who are naturally attuned to using light as a weapon." Seraphim looked at Jeanne and saw her eyes trying to bear down at her with contempt and anger. She could see the blonde's hands twitching slightly at her words which caused her to put her guard up.

"Shut up!" As Jeanne shouted, Seraphim saw the broken pieces of the Stake Victim Dragon suddenly shimmering faintly before vanishing altogether seconds later. The vampire narrowed her eyes as Jeanne launched towards her with the Blade Blacksmith magically clasped on her hands. The blonde gripped her sword tightly as she prepared to swing it at the Seraphim's direction with an intention to draw blood. Lots of it.

"Die!"

Seraphim narrowed her eyes at the approaching form of Jeanne and held her sword towards the blondes direction weakly, the fatigue from both the length of the fight and having been forced to use one of her more taxing techniques taking a hit on her.

Their swords clashed, with Seraphim having to play defensive from the angry blonde's wild slashes. The vampire jumped, ducked, and slashed away all of the attempts of Jeanne to kill her. It was tiresome but she had no choice. She had to save up her barely little remaining energy for the right opening to strike back.

Jeanne kept slashing, her swings getting more rough and choppy as they went, but more importantly it was also becoming weaker. Seraphim knew her opportunity was going to come soon and started channeling bit by bit her remaining magical energy. She'll finish the fight with one clean swing.

The blonde female sent her sword down at her form with a straight overhead strike. Seraphim moved to her side as fast as she could, dodging the incoming blade before lunging towards Jeanne with the bloody-glowing verdant sword pointed towards the blonde. As she was about to stab her blade at Jeanne's chest, she suddenly felt an insurmountable amount of pain coming from her side as she launched in the air before landing heavily at the ground. She looked at the source of the pain blearily and saw the huge form of Heracles staring down at her.

"Haha, sorry vampire lady. But your fun times over, we have to go. Gods knows why when the battle was just getting started." Seraphim glared at the brute, who had a huge grin on his face as he took the weakened Jeanne's body with a hand before running off.

Seraphim tried to stand but ended up stumbling back at the ground as she gritted her teeth in pain. She saw Heracles standing with his companions and noticed that the fading form of the descendant of Greece's greatest hero was sporting a long bloody gush over his chest. A few seconds later, which felt a lot longer for Seraphim, the Hero Faction led by Cao Cao disappeared.

"Seras-chan!" She heard her master's voice echoing in her ears before the golden mop of Naruto's hair made itself visible to her.

Seraphim tried to stand-up, and successfully did albeit a bit slowly as she held the side of her body where Heracles smashed her. Naruto approached her slowly as he carefully slumped her on his shoulders. Seraphim smiled gratefully at him which Naruto gladly returned with a bright smile of his own.

"Good job," Naruto told her with low, soft tone. "You should rest for now."

Seraphim nodded tiredly, the pains and fatigue taking it's toll as her eyelids were pokily closing. She forced herself to keep her eyes open as they slowly but steadily walked towards the direction of three figures. The two blonde Kyuubi's she recognized, but the third one with orange hair she did not.

She felt her vision flickering as she looked onward on the three powerful Youkai. The surroundings were becoming blurry, and she felt her consciousness ebbing. She felt her body becoming heavier and, consequently, her arms slipped away from her master's as she dropped unconscious onto the ground.

"Seras-chan!"

* * *

><p>Naruto looked at the sleeping woman on the bed in front of him and heaved a gentle sigh. "When I said you could rest, I didn't mean for you to actually drop on the ground and sleep." He said with a light laugh to himself.<p>

"You shouldn't stress yourself too much. She's going to recover just fine, trust me on that." He looked at the door and saw the orange-haired Youkai standing in front of the door.

"Hey, Kurama." Naruto greeted the Kitsune with a small smile.

"So how's your back? The bastard manage to hit you hard on your back back there."

Naruto shook his head at the question, his eyes not leaving his Seraphim's sight. "I told you earlier, I'm a fast healer, it'll heal soon. And I think you should worry more about your wife and daughter rather than me and Seras-chan here."

"They're both fast asleep. They're recovering quite nicely, Kunou didn't sustain much damage compared to Yasaka and your friend over there. Besides, while we're in here Kyoto, my wife's healing factor is amplified to it's absolute best. I can't say much for your lady friend over there, aside from a being a vampire and all."

"Seras-chan wasn't as injured as you think she is. That Heracles guy was lucky that she was really tired from using Tsubamegaeshi cause I have no doubt that she would have kicked her ass."

Kurama shrugged at the statement. "If you say so," The Kyuubi's tails sprouted from his back as it floated around the orange-haired man's person. Naruto suddenly remembered that he still had the letter that he guessed he was suppose to give to Kurama.

His arms shined with an orange hue as the letter materialized with a slight white glow on his hands. "I think I have something for you." He extended his arms towards Kurama, who took it without hesitation and looked at it before ripping it open.

The fox Youkai read the letter silently as Naruto took a quick glance at the sleeping Seraphim before looking back at Kurama. "What does it say?" He asked in a brisk yet cautious tone.

"A peace treaty. One between the three factions. And we're to play hosts."

Naruto stood frozen on his place, shocked from what the Kitsune had told him. For all the animosity and tension the three factions had had with each other the past few hundred years, even with the armistice, he seriously couldn't think of any reason on why _the _three factions were going to have a Peace Treaty. Was that even possible for them?

"Are you kidding?" He questioned a little too loud for his own liking although it was still laced with seriousness.

Kurama shook his head in response, making him question himself on what could have happened that would warrant the three factions to do something as huge as to propose a Peace Treaty.

"Apparently, the Kokabiel brat attacked Kuoh Academy where the sisters of the current Lucifer and Leviathan are studying to provoke and start a war. Stupid if you ask me to be honest." Naruto tuned out the rest of Kurama's talking as his eyes widened at the earlier information. His younger sister studied at Kuoh! Thoughts of worry and unease came to him at the mere thought of something bad happening to his dear sister.

Kurama noticed his worried expression but said nothing on it. The Youkai instead opted to leave the room, but not before leaving a final message to Naruto.

"We're leaving for Kuoh as soon as your friend there recovers. I'm going to make preparations so that what happened to Yasaka and Kunou won't happen again." Kurama noticed that spaced-out expression that the blonde still had on his face before sighing. "By the way, the letter also mentioned that there's going to be classroom visits for family members of the students happening next week, along with the meeting of the leaders of the three factions."

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Okay, the chapter was much shorter than what I've planned but I guess it was due anyway. The quality of the chapter was inconsistent, I think. I'll go on to that later as I edit the first few chapters. Aside from that I don't have much to say here, any inquiries about the story can be asked at my forum for my stories. Check up my profile for the link.

P.S. Yes, Seraphim's Tsubamegaeshi was shamelessly taken from Assassin from the Fate series and modified to suit Seraphim's strengths and weakness. I don't own that as well by the way. Although Seraphim was a bit of a Tsubamegaeshi-nut in Kore wa.


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